Jodi Picoult's poignant number one New York Times best-selling novels about family and love tackle hot-button issues head on. In The Storyteller, Sage Singer befriends Josef Weber, a beloved Little League coach and retired teacher. But then Josef asks Sage for a favor she never could have imagined - to kill him. After Josef reveals the heinous act he committed, Sage feels he may deserve that fate. But would his death be murder or justice?

I must start by saying I am a huge fan of Jodi Picoult and have read most of her books. (I did not like her last one, Lone Wolf.) I know she uses a formula but it usually works for me. This one didn't use her typical formula - sans courtroom scene. This was not one of my favorite Jodi books. I can't give you a good reason why though. It wasn't the Holocaust story line that bothered me. It was well done and obviously well researched. I felt like there were too many story lines and just too many parts that were not plausible.

I did not like the fable/ vampire part of the story at all. That is what may have ruined the book for me. It just kept getting in the way of the real story. I think the book would have been better without it. Also, I so wanted to get to know both brothers.

The ending was very predictable, so why wasn't it predictable to the main character?

I'd still recommend the book. The theme of forgiveness is one I will ponder for a long time. I am anxious to have my 25 year old daughter read it and see what she thinks.

Elegance of the Hedgehog

An enchanting New York Times and international best seller and award-winner about life, art, literature, philosophy, culture, class, privilege, and power, seen through the eyes of a 54-year-old French concierge and a precocious but troubled 12-year-old girl.

The summary of this book had potential. The audible reviews I read were good but boy was I mislead. I didn't like this book. I'm just not intellectual enough. I don't like philosophy and 45% of this book is philosophy. 15" rambling on the meaning of a kitchen table. Pretentious people. Trick ending. Good narration but would have been better if they had French accents as it takes place in Paris. Not for my average mind.

Blood Hollow

After 17-year-old Charlotte Kane, the beautiful, brilliant, and brooding daughter of a rich widower, disappears on a drunken New Years' Eve snowmobile ride, a raging blizzard soon snuffs out all search efforts. When her body is found during the spring thaw four months later, preliminary evidence implicates her ex-boyfriend: Ojibwe bad-boy Solemn Winter Moon. But then a second Charlotte Kane turns up dead, and Cork isn't sure of anything any more.

I live in Minnesota so there is some bias. I love William Kent Krueger. This is the 4th or 5th in his series and I've enjoyed them all. (As well as Ordinary Grace.). I always feel at home when I read his mysteries. This one kept me guessing to the end.

The Girl on the Train: A Novel

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. "Jess and Jason," she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good? Compulsively readable, The Girl on the Train is an emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller and an electrifying debut.

Fantastic psychological thriller. A little slow start but hang in there. This book keeps you guessing until the end. Absolutely made for audio. All three narrators were perfect. I can't recommend it enough!

All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is 12, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

I'm embarrassed and a little afraid to admit I was not a big fan of this book. One reviewer said that if you didn't like it, then you must be jealous of the author. Trust me. I am not jealous. I just have another opinion.

I thought this was a beautiful story. The characters were all well developed and I really got to know them. I loved that the author chose to write about teenagers and that one of the main characters was blind actually enhanced the book for me. The unbelievable horror of war and how it effects everyone was very well portrayed.

I have listened to many books that are not linear and usually enjoyed them. This book jumps back and forth in time, place and character over and over again. The narrator doesn't change his voice for the characters, so in the moment it took me to figure out where "we" were now, I would miss something. I do think this probably works better in written format.

However, the part I didn't like is what most people love and will probably make it win many awards. I found the book too descriptive and too poetic. Like another reviewer said, there were just too many metaphors. I got lost in the sugary details. I didn't enjoy the scientific detail, either. I don't care how many teeth a snail has. For me, it just got in the way. I can't wait until my daughter finishes reading it so I can get her opinion. Plus, even though I listened to the ending twice, I still am not sure what happened to the "stone".

Philomena: A Mother, Her Son, and a Fifty-Year Search

Now a major motion picture directed by Stephen Frears (The Queen, High Fidelity) and starring Judi Dench (Skyfall, Notes on a Scandal) and Steve Coogan (The Trip, Hamlet 2): the heartbreaking true story of an Irishwoman and the secret she kept for 50 years. When she became pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to a convent to be looked after as a "fallen woman". Then the nuns took her baby from her and sold him, like thousands of others, to America for adoption. Fifty years later, Philomena decided to find him.

I am so glad I bought this book on sale. I didn't care for it. Only the very beginning and some of the end of the book are about Philomena. Most of the book is about her "lost" son and follows him year by year by year. He was very self destructive and because of that, I found the book dark and depressing. I rushed to watch the movie after finishing the book because I knew that followed Judi Dench's character. First time where I enjoyed the movie more than the book.

Speaks the Nightbird

The Carolinas, 1699: The citizens of Fount Royal believe a witch has cursed their town with inexplicable tragedies -- and they demand that beautiful widow Rachel Howarth be tried and executed for witchcraft. Presiding over the trial is traveling magistrate Issac Woodward, aided by his astute young clerk, Matthew Corbett. Believing in Rachel's innocence, Matthew will soon confront the true evil at work in Fount Royal....

I am a reader - not a writer - so this will be short. I agree with everything "Ryan" an earlier reviewer wrote. Luckily I got it on sale or I would ask for a refund. I disliked it from the start but hung in there because of the positive reviews. I found the book very dark. I thought it was extremely gross many times - for no reason. I hung in there all 30 hours just to find out the ending - which was not satisfying - and because the time I had already invested. What was I thinking? I should have gone with my gut and quit earlier. Good narrator. I do not recommend this book.

Tilt-a-Whirl

There isn't much fun in the sun when a billionaire real estate tycoon is found murdered on the Tilt-a-Whirl at a seedy seaside amusement park in the otherwise quiet summer tourist town of Sea Haven. John Ceepak, a former MP just back from Iraq, has just joined the Sea Haven police department. The job offer came from an old Army buddy who hoped to give Ceepak at least a summer's worth of rest and relaxation to help him forget the horrors of war. Instead, Ceepak will head up the murder investigation.

This is a fun book. Like someone said, not great literature - but I found it to be a good read. The narrator did an excellent job of speaking for the "rookie, kind of" cop. There was an element of suspense and yet, the author did a good job of using humor. I giggled out loud more than once. I agree with whoever said it sort of has a bit of the flavor of Carl Hiaasen's novels. I look forward to listening to the whole series, but will look for sales.

Deliverance

The setting is the Georgia wilderness, where the state's most remote white-water river awaits. In the thundering froth of that river, in its echoing stone canyons, four men on a canoe trip discover a freedom and exhilaration beyond compare. And then, in a moment of horror, the adventure turns into a struggle for survival as one man becomes a human hunter who is offered his own harrowing deliverance.

I saw the movie many years ago when it came out. I always felt "creeped out" about the movie. Now that I have read the book, I know the whole story. I know the real "ending". The book is not creepy. It is intense though. I love it when a book is in first person. A movie just can't portray those thoughts. Great book, author and narrator. Forget the movie. Read the book. How one trip down a river changes many lives forever.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated, wowed critics on its way to winning several literary prizes, including Book of the Year honors from the Los Angeles Times. It has been published in 24 countries and will soon be a major motion picture. Foer's talent continues to shine in this sometimes hilarious and always heartfelt follow-up.

Read this book. Listen to this book. It is that good. I saw the movie when it came out and though I enjoyed the movie - they do not compare. The book is a whole new story. You get to hear the thoughts of young Oskar and his grandparents. There is no way a movie can convey those thoughts. This author is brilliant. Truly brilliant. He ties so many things together - the parallels between the beginning of World War II and the World Trade Center disaster. I don't want to start a new book because I don't want to forget this one.

The Husband's Secret

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret - something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive....

I loved this audiobook. The narrator was amazing. I loved her accent and she was perfect for each character. The story had me at the first sentence and kept me engaged until the end. When I had an hour left, I went and did something else for a few hours just so I could extend the book. I did not want it to end. This book is not chick flick. This book has everything. Superb writing. Characters that were believable and I could relate to. And Ms Moriarty wove the tale like no other. I will be recommending this book to all my book lover friends. I can't wait to try some more books by this author.

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